The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Echinacea and given the cultivar name ‘Sunbird’. Echinacea is in the family Asteraceae. The new cultivar is part of a planned breeding program for a series with compact habits and “shuttle cock” inflorescences. The exact parents of this selection are unknown, unnamed, proprietary interspecific hybrids of Echinacea paradoxa×Echinacea purpurea. 
Compared to Echinacea ‘Now Cheesier’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 23,059), the most similar plant on the market, the new variety has darker yellow orange ray florets that which reflex back like a ‘shuttlecock’ rather than spreading out on a horizontal plane.
This new Echinacea cultivar is distinguished by:                1. large yellow orange ray florets,        2. numerous ray florets which reflex back like a “shuttle cock”,        3. a medium habit with good branching,        4. strong stems on an upright habit, and        5. excellent vigor.        
This new cultivar has been reproduced only by asexual propagation (division and tissue culture). Each of the progeny exhibits identical characteristics to the original plant. Asexual propagation by division and tissue culture using standard micropropagation techniques with terminal and lateral shoots, as done in Canby, Oreg., shows that the foregoing characteristics and distinctions come true to form and are established and transmitted through succeeding propagations. The present invention has not been evaluated under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary with variations in environment without a change in the genotype of the plant.